The Truth of the Matter
by Lady Godiva
Summary: Maybe you’d like to hear the real story, what really happened and how it had started with six and ended with seven. This is our story, the real story. We are the Animorphs and there is so much more to our story. Rating may chance (PG-13 max)


A/N: I hope you all enjoy this. I never liked the ending of the Animorphs and I woke up this morning and decided to change it. But to do that I must start from the beginning. I'll admit, there will be an OC, but she won't have a bigger role than anyone else. A single grain of rice can tip the scale, and that my friends is exactly what she does. Although, this isn't her story, this is their story. The real story of the Animorphs.  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing because if I did, Rachel wouldn't have died, Cassie would be dating Jake, and no freakin' being called "The One" would have taken over Ax. When you fight like they did, you deserve a semi-happy ending, not some depressing finale.  
  
Prologue  
  
My name is Cassie Berenson. And at the moment I was attempting a near impossible task. A mission so unrealistic that even Rachel told me it could not be done. But, I was determined to make it happen, no matter what it took.  
  
"I'm telling you Cassie, no woman that's as pregnant as you are can look sexy in lingerie."  
  
I whipped my head around and glared at Rachel, who was perched atop my bed. Her blue eyes met my brown ones, but, unlike mine, her's were shining with amusement rather than fury.  
  
"Say it again Rachel, and we'll see how sexy you can look with a bloody nose."  
  
Rachel snorted. "Please, I'd be five miles up the road before you'd even be able to waddle your way to the bed."  
  
I glared at Rachel and tried unsuccessfully to hide the laughter that was shaking my enlarged body. I couldn't be too mad at her. After all, not too long ago she too had been pregnant. And, exactly two months before, she had given birth to a handsome baby boy. He was named Elfangor, in honor of his late grandfather.  
  
"All right, what'd I miss?" Krystal asked, entering the bedroom with a huge box in her arms.  
  
"Just more of Rachel laughing at my expense," I replied.  
  
"What's in the box, Krys?"  
  
"Dunno. I just found it outside. There's no return address or any kind of label on it."  
  
"Well, let's open it shall we?"  
  
Krystal nodded and dumped the box on the floor. She moved her dark brown hair out of her face as she opened the carefully wrapped package. Taking a look at the contents, and what I assumed was a note, Krystal's mouth dropped wide open.  
  
"What?" Rachel asked, suspicion rising in her voice. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No," Krystal said shaking her head. "It's just, this is too weird."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Krystal handed me a copy of one of the books residing in the box. "Here," she said. "Take a look and see."  
  
I glanced down at the book and was shocked to see someone who looked almost exactly like me staring back up at me. The cover clearly stated that the title of the book was Animorphs.  
  
"Another memoir?" Rachel asked, a bit confused because no one ever made a story based on our lives without first consulting us.  
  
Krystal shook her head. "No, read this note. I think you'll know where this all came from once you have."  
  
Rachel grabbed the letter from Krystal's hands and began reading it out loud. "Sometimes an anomaly in one dimension can see across and into another for very brief periods of times. I thought these books might interest you. Even in separate dimensions, your story is known throughout the universe."  
  
The three of us shared looks and, simultaneously, knew who the books had to be from. "The Ellimist."  
  
Krystal bit her lower lip. "Well, do you think we should read them?"  
  
Rachel shrugged. "I don't see why not."  
  
So, for the next several hours, we each skimmed over a separate book. It surprised me how the author, apparently someone by the name of K.A. Applegate, had gotten so many tiny details right and so many bigger ones wrong. For example, who the hell was David? There was never any David. And that was so not how things went between Ax and the Andalite female Estrid. But, the thing that shocked and angered me most was the ending. That was not our ending at all.  
  
"I die?!" Rachel screeched.  
  
Krystal snorted. "At least you exist."  
  
"I'd trade places with either one of you in an instant. She has me paired with _Ronnie_!"  
  
Rachel and Krystal exchanged looks and then burst out laughing. I glared at them. "That is so not funny."  
  
Krystal nodded, the smile still apparent on her face and the laughter still hanging in her voice. "You're right, what's really funny is that she said _Insights of the Animal Mind_ topped at number seven. Honestly, it couldn't have gotten better than number ten."  
  
I laughed and chucked a pillow at her. Rachel rolled her eyes. "What I want to know is where the hell she got this David character from?"  
  
"Well," Krystal said, clearly thinking deeply about the subject. "Anomalies can't always "see" into other dimensions, I would assume. They'd probably get brief scenes or emotions. Maybe she sensed that there was another Animorph added at some point, and that their addition had something to do with their parents. She probably sensed the feeling of treachery and made something from that."  
  
Rachel shook her head. "Yeah, but you never would have turned on us like that. You know we never doubted you're loyalty to the good side, simply your loyalty to our half of the good side."  
  
"Yeah, I know that, but she didn't."  
  
"We've got to share these with the guys," I said. "They'd get a real kick out of it."  
  
Rachel smirked. "What about your mission to be sexy for your fifth anniversary?"  
  
I sighed as I glanced at the piles of lingerie sprawled out on my bed. "Oh forget it. Jake will just have to wait a few more months."  
  
Rachel and Krystal shared a smile and Krystal picked up the box and headed out of the room and towards the new Lexus SUV sitting in my driveway. "Whatever you say, Cassie."  
  
Rachel laughed and linked arms with me as we followed Krys out. My mind was still thinking about the Animorphs books as we made our way over to Rachel's home. There were a few things this Applegate lady had messed up. For one, we were 15 when it had all started, not 13. The beginning she got mostly right. It had been that one, fateful night in the abandoned construction site that had started it all. And it was only a few weeks before we found Ax in his dome ship at the bottom of the sea. However, there were many main details the poor woman had left out, which probably led to Rachel's demise and the other Animorphs' suicide rescue mission.  
  
Maybe you'd like to hear the real story, what really happened and how it had started with six and ended with seven. Maybe you'd like to know just how I came to be seven months pregnant and married to the love of my life or how Rachel and Tobias had finally overcome his unique situation, thanks to more Andalite technology. Or maybe you want to know how a lowly Andalite aristh married a girl who's heritage is more complicated than you'd think and ended up head of the Andalite High Command. Either way, this is our story. The real story. We are the Animorphs.  
  
A/N: I hope you all like it! Please review! 


End file.
